Strange New World: Diamond and Pearl
by Apeironomicon
Summary: What a strange world it is: criminal organizations, ancient Pokemon, and an adventure to take your breath away! Just hope that our three heroes make it through this strange new world... based on the Diamond and Pearl games
1. Chapter 1

Hi all! This is my first attempt at writing a story for so please be kind with your reviews! This is a story following the basic plot of the Diamond/Pearl games, but I've expanded upon the plot slightly and changed some bits :X Reviews, constructive criticism and suggestions are all appreciated! )

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. **  
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**Chapter 1**

_"__...odd weather will continue for some time at least. __Moving on to our special exclusive report about the Red __Gyarados__. Despite the exploration team's best efforts, however, the rare, oddly-coloured __Pokemon__ eluded detection. The rumoured red __Gyarados__ failed to appear, even fleetingly, to the crestfallen team. Some have raised doubts about the validity of the sightings..."_

Some time ago, apparently, some people had seen a red Gyarados appear at the Lake of Rage, in the Johto region, triggering a cascade of investigations and special reports about the issue. The opinions on the existence, or rather possible existence, of such a creature were many and differing, resulting in many television documentaries, investigations, and crackpot theories about it. Some said it was a miracle. Some said it was a sign.

Lucas said it was ridiculous.

But, unfortunately enough as it happened, ridiculous was exactly what one of his closer friends did. Just like Lucas, Damion was fifteen, but he seemed to have the excess energy of a six-year-old who had nothing to do every day but eat, sleep and watch TV. At an age where most kids stayed up till nearly midnight studying for tests (school did that to people) Damion never seemed to run out of energy. Lucas had a theory that Damion ran on a diet of caffeine and candy. Damion had a theory that there was a red Gyarados in Lake Verity, near to their hometown of Twinleaf. And he was dying to test it out.

Lucas walked over to the window of his bedroom, looking out at the path outside, where the aforementioned overly hyper teen was chucking rocks at his window. He had a terrible aim, however, resulting in most rocks missing and bouncing off the wall of the building, and one flying into the window and somehow, ricocheting off a table lamp, managed to hit Lucas on the forehead. That was why Lucas went to the window in the first place (normally, this sort of behaviour on the part of Damion warranted ignoring).

"What is it now?" Lucas asked, sticking his head out of the window just in time to stretch out his hand and catch another rock in mid-air.

"Dude," Damion grinned, running a hair through his blond hair, "I told you over the phone that we're going to Lake Verity! Don't you listen?"

Lucas sighed. "You're the one going, not me," he stated matter-of-factly. "And besides, don't you realise that we've got a test on Pokemon Battle Theory next week?"

"We do?" Damion sounded genuinely puzzled. But then again, that was nearly all the time when it came to anything remotely related to studying. "What are the topics covered again?"

"How could you have missed it?" Lucas rolled his eyes. "No, wait, let me guess. You were sleeping in class for the past three weeks when that was all the teacher was talking about."

Damion suddenly looked uncomfortable. "Eh, c'mon, it's just five minutes to Lake Verity! It won't take long! You can come back to your precious textbooks later. Please?" He was pacing up and down the path outside so quickly that just watching him was making Lucas' head spin.

Lucas sighed again. "Very well," he groaned, grabbing the red cap he usually wore and jamming it on his head. It complemented the red scarf and blue shirt he was wearing pretty well- but then again that was the general idea. Cursing himself inwardly for following his most-probably-not-so-sane friend on another of his crazy escapades, he made his way downstairs, calling out a goodbye to his mother as he went, to join Damion outside.

The orange and white-striped polo tee Damion wore was slightly faded, and he took a green scarf out of his sling bag, putting it around his neck. "Knew it," he grinned as he saw Lucas emerge from his house. "I'm irresistible."

"Annoying, more like it," Lucas muttered, and Damion had the sense to shut up when he saw the stormy look on his friend's face. "Anything to get you off my back." Despite all appearances and the manner in which Lucas expressed his reservations to Damion, the two were actually close friends.

In fact, Damion was Lucas's only friend.

As the two teenage boys made their way down the path out of Twinleaf Town, leaving the small settlement behind them, Damion's already large grin grew even larger, if that was possible. It was now roughly the size and shape of an overweight Lunatone, and was growing even larger. "Dude," he began, "I'll bet there'll be a red Gyarados in Verity too."

"That whole red Gyarados business is utter nonsense," Lucas shot a dirty look at Damion. "Besides, even if there is a red Gyarados (which there isn't)," he continued, somehow managing to pronounce the brackets, "I doubt it will stick around for us to find it. Heck, the place is so boring I'm surprised the Bidoof there don't just die of boredom."

Damion refused to see sense. But then again, he was always like that. On the other hand, it was questionable as to whether or not he had actually heard Lucas in the first place, he seemed to be too preoccupied with smiling happily to himself.

For the umpteenth time in a row, Lucas sighed.

Finally, they reached the lake.

"Finally, we've reached the lake!" Damion raised his arms to the sky, as though he was an anime character of some sort.

"Finally, we've reached the bloody lake," Lucas grumbled. "No red Gyarados anywhere in sight. Heck not even a red Bidoof, or a Bidoof of any kind, red, purple, green, magenta, bright freaking crayon pink. Happy now?" He looked around- the azure blue reflection of the sky with rolling white clouds in the lake, the smooth slope leading down to the clear water and the patches of tall grass running around the lake. It was beautiful scenery, except for one simple problem.

Lucas was right. There was not a Bidoof in sight- usually there were dozens of them around, building small dams near the bank, playing around, eating, just sitting around staring off into the sky as though they were waiting for berries to fall from the sky. But today, for some reason, there were no Bidoof at all. Strange. Lucas voiced his concerns to his companion.

But, once again Damion wasn't listening.

"Look! Over there!" he whispered.

Damion whispering? Now, that was new, Lucas thought with a smirk. He followed the direction where Damion was pointing, and saw an old man and a young girl standing at the edge of the lake. The man seemed to be dressed very formally, wearing a coat and a tie. His snow-white hair and beard, coupled with his height and size, gave him an imposing air. The girl beside him wore a black shirt and a short pink skirt, along with a white beanie cap on her head, and appeared to be around the same age as Lucas and Damion.

"Dude, she is cute!" Damion cackled. Lucas covered his mouth before he could say another word, he was more interested in what the girl was saying.

"-odd is what I say. Not a single one to be found! And of course, there's the matter of the sudden appearance of flocks of-" he heard the old man say, before the sound of a twig cracking drowned out the next few words. Lucas shot a glowering look at Damion, who didn't look in the least apologetic. But then again he was never apologetic, even that time when he had accidentally set half a classroom on fire, but that was a story for another time.

By the time Lucas turned back to look at the old man and the girl again, they were packing up to go. The old man picked up a travelling bag, and both of them headed right for Lucas and Damion.

"Kindly excuse us," the old man said to Damion. If he seemed intimidating from afar, he looked downright scary up close. Damion started, then realised he was blocking off the path leading out of the lakefront, and leapt out of the way like he had just stepped on a Seviper's tail. The old man walked past without a second glance, but the girl stopped for a second, looking at both of them, before hurriedly following the old man.

"No red Gyarados anywhere remotely in the vicinity," Lucas said to Damion. "Would you like me to check the trees? It may be hiding in the trees. Or under the leaf litter," he added sarcastically.

"Shut up for a moment, look, that old guy left something behind." True enough, a briefcase was still sitting in the grass- apparently the old man and the girl had left it behind. Damion ran forward towards the grass, but stopped short when Lucas grabbed the back of his shirt.

"Stop and think for a moment, knucklehead, what if a wild Pokemon attacks while you're in the grass? Neither of us has any Pokemon, we'll be in trouble then!" he snarled.

"Can it," Damion said dismissively, not even looking back, "like you said, there are no Bidoof around. What could go wrong?" He tore away from Lucas's grasp and raced into the grass. Lucas smacked his forehead with his palm. What had he done to deserve this? With no option, he ran after his reckless friend, right into the grass, stopping beside the briefcase.

"This is-" Damion started, but he was cut off by a shriek. A high-pitched noise, like what a bird would make, except it sounded harsh.

"What was that?" Lucas whispered, whipping his head around so fast he cricked his neck.

"It came from the trees!" Damion answered, just as close to panicking.

"We better get out of here," Lucas grimaced. But before they could make a move, there was a second shriek, and the dense leaf cover of the trees nearby was torn open as two birds flew into the clearing. They were small and gray, with white foreheads, and their eyes were narrowed, which could mean that they either badly needed glasses or were really, really angry.

Given that the birds were staring at the two teenage boys and had started swooping at them with what seemed to be murderous intent, the second possibility seemed more likely.

"Oh, crap." Damion whispered.

"What could go wrong?" Lucas sneered, mimicking Damion's earlier sentence. "You just had to open your mouth?"

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That was the first chapter X Hope you liked it! Reviews please:)


	2. Chapter 2

Hi guys! Thanks for the reviews, I'll try my best to live up to expectations :)

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**Chapter 2**

"I've never seen this kind of Pokemon around before!" Lucas yelled as one of the birds dived at him. He ducked to the side, and the bird skimmed the grass before pulling out of its attack run. Damion dodged the second bird, and both wheeled around for a second pass.

"I thought Bidoof are the only Pokemon which live around here!" Damion shouted as he turned on his heel, attempting to track the two angry birds as they spread their wings and attacked again. "Anyway, what did we do to annoy them?"

"No idea," Lucas panted. He was getting tired, all the dodging was getting to him- and the attacking Pokemon were pretty fast, so dodging was no easy feat. Unfortunately, the birds seemed to be holding up fine, and were, if anything, more angry than before. One of them, on its pass, slammed a wing into the briefcase the old man had left behind, knocking it over and undoing the latch. A few papers flew out, along with- three Pokeballs.

"It's our only chance!" Damion shouted, and Lucas knew he was right. He lunged and grabbed the first Pokeball he reached. "Just like those practice battles in school, then?"

"So you do pay attention after all," Lucas couldn't resist a smirk as he pressed the release button on the Pokeball. A flash of light emerged from the capsule, resolving itself into what appeared to be a small orange monkey with its- backside- on fire.

"Chimchar!" the small Pokemon proudly announced its name to the world.

Damion's Pokeball released a small blue penguin with an oversized head. This one, according to the sound it made when it emerged, was Piplup.

"Look, I know we're not your owners, but we're in a bit of a fix here, so I'd appreciate it if you could help us-" Lucas managed to gasp before he had to duck again whilst the edge of a wing swooped over his head.

"I don't think we need to explain! I think they get the picture!" Damion screeched as one of the strange bird Pokemon attacked again. "Piplup!" he called to the small Pokemon he had released.

It was to no avail. The tiny penguin seemed to be rather enjoying itself watching the small birds, barely a foot tall, chase the boy around. It was unlikely Piplup would have done anything if one of the birds had not decided to spin around and attack the newcomer. Piplup squeaked and dived aside as the wild Pokemon's wings swept through the tall grass where the water type had been seconds ago.

Angry now, Piplup lunged at the bird with surprising speed, opening its beak to release a stream of water, then spinning around in mid-air such that the water jet swirled around in a corkscrewing motion- the torrent trapped the attacking bird within and stopped it from attacking again.

"Whirlpool?" Damion asked. "Nice one!"

In response to Damion's praise, Piplup simply turned its head away- the spitting image of a spoilt child.

"Damn, it's as stubborn as you are!" Lucas couldn't suppress a grin as the more aggressive Chimchar, unlike its water-type comrade, eagerly leapt at the flying enemy and tackled it to the ground, hard, despite the bird's protests which it was making quite evident with a lot of flapping and screeching. The little ape was happily wrestling its unwilling victim into the ground, rolling around in the grass. Chimchar seemed to be enjoying itself, the bird rather less so.

With an angry squawk, both birds took off towards the trees, shooting backwards glances at the boys and the two small Pokemon next to them as they vanished into the foliage.

"That was close," Lucas wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. "You and your thousand and one stupid ideas," he turned to Damion. "You do realise if you hadn't got it into your thick head to wander into a patch of thick grass we wouldn't have been attacked by rabid wild birds, and we wouldn't have had to, as a result, use the Pokemon of a total stranger who is probably not going to be all the happy with us? Heck," he breathed after the long sentence, "he's probably going to eviscerate us or something."

"Your Pokemon," Damion said, completely ignoring Lucas's lecture, pointing to the Chimchar. "It's crying."

The flaming ape was not so much crying as sobbing its little eyes out, as Piplup gave it a condescending glare much like the look one would give a rather small insect that had just crawled up to ask for the entire contents of your bank account.

"Firstly, it's hardly my Pokemon," Lucas said, holding up a finger. "Secondly, I don't care, it's not mine. We better return this briefcase," he said, holding up the briefcase.

"That's true," Damion agreed, returning both Piplup and Chimchar into their Pokeballs before putting them into the briefcase. "But we don't even know where that old guy lives. How are we going to return this thing?"

"Oh man." Lucas slapped his forehead as the two teens walked out of the lake. "You're right."

Before he could get another sentence in, Damion gave him another extremely large grin. "I'm always right," he exclaimed.

Just as Lucas was about to make a rather sarcastic and unprintable remark, his attention was drawn away as the girl from earlier appeared, blocking their paths. "You found the briefcase?" she exclaimed.

Lucas and Damion looked across at each other for a second, before looking down at the briefcase firmly clutched in Damion's hand.

Before he could react, the girl had snatched the briefcase away. "Thank goodness you found it! The Professor would have killed me if I'd lost it." Without another word, she raced away in the direction of Sandgem Town- the nearest settlement to Twinleaf.

"What just happened?" Damion asked, confused.

"It doesn't matter," Lucas replied, sick and tired of Damion's horsing around. "We've got a lecture in school in five minutes, remember? No wait, you probably don't. Let's go. If you miss this one, you're probably going to fail the test next week. Your luck can't hold out forever." Saying that, he grabbed the back of Damion's shirt, dragging him back to Twinleaf.

Sighing, Damion knew he couldn't escape from his friend's grasp. He was too determined this time, and he would probably make good on his insinuations that he was going to drag Damion all the way to school and force him to attend the lecture. Just as well, the boy thought. He needed a nap.

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The two boys were just in time, racing into the classroom just as the teacher was about to begin. Shooting both boys a glance which would have knocked the bliss out of a Blissey, the teacher ordered both of them to "sit down quickly and keep quiet". Lucas didn't really care how the teacher looked at him, he'd had enough murderous looks for a day. First from a random bird which had attacked him for no particular reason, and then another one from his teacher because he had stopped his reckless friend from running home instead of coming to school. Damion didn't really care, or rather didn't care at all, simply because that was the way he did things in school.

"Today," the teacher was saying, and Lucas had to drag his attention back from rabid fowls to the lesson at hand, "We are privileged to have a very distinguished speaker taking time off his busy schedule to share his experiences with us. May I introduce, Professor Rowan."

Lucas was shocked. He had to shove Damion rather violently, earning a stern glare from the teacher (which was again ignored), as he watched the aforementioned distinguished speaker enter the room.

"Damion!" he hissed. "It's that old guy from the lake!"


	3. Chapter 3

Dazgar: Are you reading my mind? ;D

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**Chapter 3**

Lucas wasn't listening throughout the talk. For him, this was a first. He was still in shock. The only thing he actually learnt was that this "Professor" had spent four years out of Sinnoh and had just returned, apparently to do some project-or-other. But when the Professor took out the briefcase and revealed three Pokeballs within- that was when Lucas knew they were well and truly screwed.

"Across my travels, I have managed to obtain three rare Pokemon," the professor was saying. He then pressed the release buttons- revealing Chimchar, Piplup and another Pokemon, a brown quadruped with a leaf on its head- Turtwig.

To the immense shock of everyone in the class (except maybe Lucas who knew it was coming and Damion who was fast asleep), Chimchar immediately dashed over to Lucas, leaping onto tables and people's heads to jump into the boy's arms, hitting him with enough force to knock Lucas backwards off his chair. The little Pokemon cooed contentedly and immediately fell asleep, despite Lucas's attempts to get it off him. In the chaos that ensued (at least three people had fallen over during Chimchar's mad rush to Lucas and a few more screamed, thinking Chimchar was trying to kill him) Lucas caught Rowan's eye.

Rowan didn't look remotely surprised. In fact, he looked rather resigned, as though he had expected it. Raising Chimchar's Pokeball, he recalled the small monkey, calling the class's attention to Piplup, which was still behaving like a spoilt kid, and Turtwig, which seemed much more amiable and cooperative in general. The girls were fascinated with Piplup- at least until it refused to do anything it was asked to. Or perhaps it was because it was being treated like a dog, some were asking it to "roll over" or "beg". Annoyed, the little penguin blasted the offending students with a jet of water before retiring to its Pokeball, leaving several students soaked and dripping all over the floor.

Turtwig sighed in exasperation.

As soon as the lecture was over, Rowan asked to see Lucas and Damion. The teachers and other students seemed to think Chimchar was rabid. Lucas and Damion knew it was more complicated than that.

So there they were, standing just outside the school, talking to an old man who looked more than capable of murder. Well, not murder, but a very expensive lawsuit. The kind which came with legal fees so large you had to count the number of zeroes on the end with three hands. "You are the boys who found my briefcase at the lake this morning, am I right?" Rowan began.

"Sir," began Lucas, "we can explain," the look in his eyes answering Rowan's question.

"There is no need to explain," Rowan rumbled. This was true to an extent- his voice was so deep it could be felt as well as heard. Exactly the type of voice one would expect from an elephant, or a Groudon, if one existed. "Please follow me to my laboratory in Sandgem Town. We have... things to discuss." Saying that, the professor set off on the route out of town. After a moment's hesitation, Damion shrugged and followed, with Lucas close behind him.

"Dear diary," Lucas muttered to no one in particular, "we are following a crazy old man who looks as though he is going to sue us. He could be angry, or a paedophile, or both. We are following him to his laboratory in Sandgem Town. We don't actually know it's a laboratory. It could be a dungeon of some kind for all we know. If anyone finds this, it wasn't my fault. It was Damion's. I'm sorry for not listening and following a stranger out of town. I leave everything to my parents."

Their feet crunched along the fallen leaves on the path winding out of Twinleaf. Lucas looked up for a moment, distracted from his rather graphic visions of imminent doom, and it registered in his mind that there was, once again, not a single Bidoof in sight.

By his side, Damion was once again acting as though he was experiencing a sugar rush so great it made Sweet Honey seem sour in comparison. "Man," he whooped, "he's bringing us to his lab! I'll bet he has all sorts of cool Pokemon. Like the kinds you don't find in Sinnoh- whatsitsname? Babasore?"

"It's Bulbasaur," Lucas groaned. "And they're rare outside of Sinnoh, too. Now keep quiet," he ordered as they watched the old man walking in front of them. "If he gets annoyed with all the noise you're making he might just kill you now instead of waiting until we get to his lab."

"Chill, man," Damion pouted. "Why'd you have to be so pessimistic all the time? Look on the bright side of life!"

"If I look too hard I might just get blinded," Lucas grumbled. "Like you."

"What did you say?"

"Nothing."

It was a relatively short distance from Twinleaf to Sandgem, so the boys soon found themselves standing in front of a large building in the middle of the seaside town. Without a word, Rowan walked in. Shrugging, Damion followed just behind, whilst Lucas took a little longer to follow. He was memorising the layout of the area in case he needed to make a quick getaway.

The place within was crammed from top to bottom with bookshelves, which in turn were bursting with tome after tome after tome, each thicker than the last and each probably containing more information than Damion had learnt from school in over eight years of education. But then again, most books did.

Rowan was waiting for them at a table in the middle of the room, accompanied by a lab assistant and the girl from the lake earlier.

"My name is Professor Rowan," the professor started.

"We knew that already," Lucas whispered under his breath, rolling his eyes.

"But you knew that already," Rowan continued, as though reading his mind. "I hear that you two found my briefcase in the grass this morning. I thank you for finding my briefcase, however..." He reached into the briefcase, which was lying on the table, and drew out the Pokeballs of Piplup and Chimchar, releasing the two Pokemon. The fire monkey immediately leapt straight into Lucas's arms once again, whilst Piplup snorted in disgust at the babyish behaviour of its companion.

Rowan's expression was grave. He looked Lucas straight in the eye. "Please explain," Rowan said, leaning back in an office chair.

And they explained.

They told the whole story, from seeing Rowan and the girl at the lake, to realising they had left a briefcase behind, to trying to retrieve it and getting attacked by two wild bird Pokemon they had never seen before. Lucas's throat was already hoarse from the talking when he got to the part where they had used the Pokemon to battle the wild ones when they had no other choice.

Rowan was silent for a few seconds.

"I see," he said finally, breaking the awkward silence. He stood up, draping a lab coat around his shoulders, before walking over to a window, his back to the boys and his expression inscrutable. "That Chimchar does seem to have become attached to you," he said to Lucas whilst still looking out the window.

"I-I guess it has, sir," Lucas muttered. Chimchar had fallen fast asleep in his arms.

"It is a very young Pokemon," the professor said. "Two days old. It was supposed to be one of the Pokemon to be given to starter trainers starting from next week, when the Pokemon League officially opens its Sinnoh Branch- you know about that, don't you?"

"Of course we do," Damion said excitedly. It had been all over the news for three years already- the Pokemon League had decided to set up a branch in Sinnoh, opening Gyms and setting up a League for trainers to take part in and be recognised for their talents and abilities.

"Then you will understand why it is odd that the timing of this opening has coincided exactly with several very strange changes in the climate. Do you know about that?" Rowan continued.

That, too, had been a major focus. The weather in Sinnoh, indeed the very climate, had changed dramatically. The Western side of Sinnoh, where Twinleaf and Sandgem were situated, was originally dry and hot- but across the last three years, it had become gradually colder, with windspeeds increasing drastically too. This change was so great that a species of Pokemon called Shellos, a small, sea-slug like creature, had changed appearance within Western Sinnoh- originally, they had been blue in colour, but with the decrease in temperature and stronger winds, they had turned red- a coating of slime produced by the Pokemon to keep itself warm and prevent dehydration from the strong winds. At the same time, North-Eastern Sinnoh had become warmer and warmer, with the clash in temperatures in the middle, where Mount Coronet (the tallest mountain in Sinnoh) was situated. The climate changes had resulted in devastating crop failures in parts of Sinnoh as well as disasters like tornadoes around Central Sinnoh. Errant tidal activity had also been observed- altogether, the situation was serious and getting worse every passing day.

Lucas nodded. "The weather changes started around the same time the announcement was made, right?"

Rowan didn't respond, only straightened his shoulders and stood up a bit straighter, drawing up to his full height.

"I need a favour from you two."

Lucas and Damion were surprised, to say the least. To be more precise, they were flabbergasted.

"As the representative of the Pokemon League in Sinnoh, I have been ordered to investigate the weather changes," Rowan revealed. "But I cannot do it due to... limitations on my part. I entreat you two to do this for me. This situation is becoming grave. It has actually affected Pokemon behaviour. For instance, the bird Pokemon you were attacked by..." Rowan finally turned away from the window and walked over to a bookshelf, taking from it an extraordinarily thick book, about the thickness of a human thigh and more.

"Betcha this old man's going to look in that dictionary for it or something," Damion grinned, and dodged before Lucas could elbow him.

However, Rowan opened the book to reveal that it was solid- not pages at all, but made of a hard material with three large spaces set into it. Two were currently occupied with red devices about the thickness of a relatively thin hardcover book, one of which Rowan took out of its slot. He flipped open its cover and pressed a few buttons before turning it to allow Lucas and Damion to have a look at it.

The small screen showed a picture of a bird- the exact same type of Pokemon which had attacked Lucas and Damion. "Starly," Lucas read off the description. "They flock in great numbers. Though small, they flap their wings with great power."

"This is the Pokedex," Rowan explained proudly. "It has a complete record of all species present in Sinnoh. This particular Pokemon- Starly- has had its migration patterns affected by the climate changes. That's why flocks of them are now appearing all over Western Sinnoh. They usually range from Northern to East Sinnoh, but the temperature changes have driven them here. That is why I need your help." His face was deadly serious now. "I need you to help me update the Pokedex with information on the habitats and species of Pokemon in Sinnoh, as well as find out why the climate is changing so much. Will you help me?"

Lucas stared at him. Damion, as always, was raring to go. Lucas, on the other hand...

"No."

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Once again reviews are appreciated, especially suggestions I'll try to make the following chapters longer too. 


	4. Chapter 4

Hey guys! Thanks for all the reviews :) I know this story is off to a pretty slow start, but it'll pick up in pace soon.

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**Chapter 4**

Rowan looked mildly surprised. "No?"

"No," repeated Lucas. "I'm sorry, sir, but we have school to attend. We can't leave home to travel throughout Sinnoh like you suggest. No offence, but that would be a bad idea."

Rowan raised an eyebrow. "What do you learn in school anyway?"

"Battle theory, Pokemon habitats-" Lucas began, but Rowan cut him off.

"In that case, would it not be better to be out there experiencing it yourself?" he asked. "How can you know the beauty of a Smeargle's art unless you are out there, watching it work? How," he continued, "can you understand how the behaviour of a Sudowoodo complements its camouflage unless you are out there in and amongst the trees trying to spot the difference? Need I say more?"

"Still, sir," Lucas argued, "we have exams and grades-"

Rowan seemed to be getting mildly annoyed. "I would think that you would put the safety of Sinnoh and everyone, human and Pokemon, living inside, as higher up on the list of priorities than petty grades. Besides, Dawn here," he indicated the girl next to him, who smiled and waved, "should be in school too. She took study leave- which happens to be a system the Pokemon League is implementing and I can help you to apply for, by the way- to help me with this."

"We're in, sir!" Damion yelled, "don't listen to him, he probably hit his head a bit too hard or something."

"Still, professor," Lucas insisted, "We can't be involved. It's too dangerous- too..."

Rowan cut him off with a regal wave of his hand. "Enough," he rumbled. "Excuses. Now tell me... what is the real reason you don't want to go?"

Lucas stared. A few heartbeats later, he replied, "Sir, I just told you the real reasons. I'm sorry, but I-I really can't help you." Saying that, he turned on his heel and walked straight out of the lab, leaving Damion standing foolishly in the lab. Stunned, Damion's mouth opened and closed a few times before he fully registered what had just happened. He made to go after Lucas, but a large hand clamped onto his shoulder.

"Boy, stay here for a while," Rowan requested. He turned his head slightly and made a small jerking motion to the girl, who nodded in response. "Dawn?"

"On it, professor," Dawn grinned, before grabbing her bag, which had been leaning against the foot of the table, and following Lucas on his way out of the lab.

Lucas slammed the front door of the lab behind him as he ran down the dirt path, his feet kicking aside fragments of gravel as he passed. He could hear slight crunching noises from behind him, knew someone was following him, and didn't really care. Then, he saw a flash of brown amidst the green grass, and stopped short.

It was a Hoothoot- a small, brown owl with large black markings around its eyes. The little bird seemed to be hurt- there were several deep lacerations around its flank, and its right eye was swollen shut. It took a few short hops towards Lucas on one stubby foot, hooted feebly and collapsed.

Lucas, abandoning all thoughts of getting away from Sandgem, bent down to pick up the Hoothoot with both hands, raising the small Pokemon from the ground gently. It was unconscious, and did seem to be badly injured. But who could have done this to the owl? As far as Lucas knew, Hoothoot were pretty rare around the area- they tended to favour Southeast Sinnoh- and were mostly harmless, eating only small insects.

He heard a soft voice from behind him. "L-Lucas?" a feminine voice came. "That's your name, right?"

"What do you want?" Lucas snapped unnecessarily harshly, still distressed both from the condition of the Hoothoot and what had occurred in Rowan's lab.

"Those injury marks..." Dawn whispered as she saw the unconscious Pokemon Lucas was holding gently. "Starly. They're very aggressive, and... and territorial. They don't l-like sharing their territory with other Pokemon, especially if they eat the same kind of food...when the weather changes forced them here, they must have t-taken over and forced the poor Hoothoot out of its territory... here," she said, reaching into her bag and handing Lucas a Potion.

Lucas took it from her with a wan smile, spraying the medication onto the Hoothoot's wounds. "Thanks," he muttered.

"We'd best get it to a Pokemon Center," Dawn suggested, patting him on the shoulder slightly and nudging him gently in the direction of the Center, which happened to be down the road. "Those injuries look bad, I don't t-think a Potion is enough to heal them completely."

Without reply, Lucas followed her down the path into the Pokemon center. Handing Hoothoot over to the nurse, who had been quite shocked at the condition of the Pokemon and had promised to take care of it, Lucas and Dawn sat down at one of the sofas in the waiting area, beside a rack of magazines.

After a moment of awkward silence, Dawn turned to Lucas. "Why didn't you want to go?" she asked softly. "Most people I know would jump at the chance!"

Lucas leaned forward slightly, kneading his hands and his brows furrowed. "I guess I don't like Pokemon that much," he replied in an even voice- but even so, Dawn could detect a slight quavering in his words.

"From what I saw- the Hoothoot- you don't seem like an unkind person," Dawn pressed. "You seem like someone who does love Pokemon."

Lucas said nothing, only lowering his head further.

"You don't understand," he said finally.

"Try me," Dawn said. She placed her hand on his arm, but he jerked it away, causing her to frown. "Tell me. Maybe if you e-explain I might understand."

Lucas turned to look her in the eye. "You'd listen?"

Dawn nodded sincerely, her brown eyes looking straight into Lucas's obsidian pupils.

Lucas stood up. "No. You wouldn't understand. Besides, I hardly know you."

Dawn stood up too. "Please come with us. The situation's really serious." She could tell Lucas was trying to contain his emotions. It was evidently a struggle, she could tell by the maelstrom of emotion she could see in his eyes, even if the rest of his face remained stony. "Would you rather see more Pokemon like t-that innocent Hoothoot get hurt?"

Lucas's impassive facade cracked temporarily. The sides of his mouth tightened slightly, and Dawn thought she saw a glint in the corner of his eye. A tear? Or a trick of the light? She blinked, and when she opened her eyes, it was gone.

Dawn knew she was getting to him. "Please," she pleaded.

Lucas turned his head to the side and gave a grunt, which she took as consent. The girl grabbed his hand and dragged him back to the lab, where Rowan and Damion were waiting. Damion gave him a huge grin, which Lucas returned with a sour look. Rowan looked unsurprised once again- was he precognitive or something?

"I entrust the two of you with these Pokedexes," Rowan said, handing each boy one of the red devices he had showed them before. "I will call your schools directly and inform them that you will be going off on your Pokemon journey early- do not fret, you will be seeing most of your friends in some time when they are officially allowed to begin their journey in a few days time. Consider this... a headstart," Rowan winked, the first sign of anything but stoicism from the elderly gentleman. Dawn couldn't help but notice that Lucas seemed none to happy about that. "You may go ahead and challenge the gyms. Battle other trainers. But don't forget your mission," he looked them in the eye. "Find whatever is behind this weather change. And be careful."

He reached back to his desk and took out two Pokeballs- Chimchar and Piplup. "I will give these two Pokemon to you," he said, and as expected Damion exploded in excitement. "Take good care of them, and they will be the best partners you could ever ask for." Lucas took Chimchar's Pokeball, albeit with a certain degree of hesitation, and Damion snatched Piplup's Pokeball and immediately released the small penguin, which looked slightly grumpy, clashing fantastically with its cute looks. Lucas released Chimchar, the small fire monkey whooping in delight, as Dawn released Turtwig from a Pokeball she was carrying in her bag. The three Pokemon looked at each other for a second- Turtwig giving a large smile to the others, Chimchar grinning mischievously and Piplup giving an arrogant smirk. Damion gave another of his signature overly-large grins, Dawn shot Lucas an encouraging smile, and Lucas's face remained totally impassive.

Damion lifted Piplup into the air. "What shall I call you?" he asked the small penguin, which seemed unhappy at having its feathers ruffled. Shrugging Damion's hands off, the penguin leapt onto his head, nestling in his flaxen hair. "Pippy?" This was immediately rewarded with a sharp peck on the forehead, causing Damion to yell in pain. "Guess you don't like that, huh? Erm... Luppy?" Piplup pecked him again, harder this time. "Coro?" Piplup didn't seem to have any disagreements, so that was it.

Lucas rolled his eyes. "I get the crybaby. Wonderful." Chimchar was hugging his leg affectionately. "Huh? Erm... I guess I should give you a nickname. What should I call you? Damn, wait. Why should I? I don't even like you in the first place. Why am I doing this again?"

Dawn's Turtwig had apparently been with her for some time already- it already had a nickname, Terra.

"Where to next?" Damion asked.

"We should go home to tell our parents about this," Lucas gave him a pointed look.

"Oh, yeah. Right." Damion gave a sheepish grin, before taking off at full speed in the direction of Twinleaf. "Race ya there!"

Lucas sighed, waving a goodbye to Dawn as he went. "We'll meet here tomorrow morning, then," he said before he walked after Damion, totally ignoring his challenge. He had other things to think about.

Had he done the right thing, he wondered?


	5. Chapter 5

Hey there, I'm back with the next chapter :P Sorry for the long hiatus! I had a lot of problems with this chapter, especially length. Anyway, in response to some reviews:

**Galbinus: **No, I don't have a beta reader. I just don't like reading typos, so I try to avoid them whenever possible in my own work  
**Ashlynn: **Of course. Most sane people wouldn't refuse. Unless, of course, you had a very good reason (at least to yourself) to refuse... :)

* * *

**Chapter 5**

The sun shone brightly down on the beach. A single Bidoof wandered near the shoreline, curiously trotting down the sandy beach to the sea. It squeaked in shock as the cold, salty water washed over its paws, and hurriedly rushed off to the safety of the bushes nearby. From there, it stuck its head out, glancing at the dreaded water. After about thirty seconds of staring, the round mouse crept warily down the beach again, and stuck one paw into the surf.

Damion laughed quietly to himself at the Bidoof's antics as he watched from a bench on a grassy rise. Contrary to what most people thought, his loud and hyperactive demeanour could give way to a more sensitive inside. He didn't really think about his seeming split personality- it was just the way he was. He had never know Sandgem had such a nice beach- that was, until he had come here whilst waiting for Lucas and Dawn to show up. He basked in the early morning sun, wondering when his comrades would show up.

He released Piplup from its Pokeball. The little penguin waddled down the sandy dunes at breakneck speed (for those webbed feet, it was indeed astonishingly fast) and leapt straight into the salty, clear water, submerging and resurfacing several meters away. Its round blue head broke through the waves and foam as it blew out dozens of bubbles into the air playfully- a rare display for the normally snobbish penguin. The frightened Bidoof scampered away in fear, hiding behind a small bush. Once again it stuck its head out from behind the bush to watch Coro frolic in the water.

It was quite evident that Coro was enjoying itself tremendously. Damion, however, contented himself with watching his Pokemon play. He fished an empty Pokeball out of his pocket. He planned to challenge the Sinnoh Gyms along the way- but of course, new and old trainers alike, from both Sinnoh and overseas, would be yearning to challenge the League. He couldn't do this with just Coro- strong trainers usually had full teams of six, and whilst Damion had no doubts as to his ability to train his Pokemon to be strong, there was always the principle of quantity beating quality. He would need to create a full team. But where should he start...?

The Bidoof squeaked again.

Damion had an idea. "Coro!" he called. The penguin popped out of the water, its downy feathers dripping wet. Damion pointed at the round mouse, who yelped and immediately turned tail, only to slip on a patch of moist seaweed and tumble. "Use Bubble!"

Reluctantly plodding out of the surf, Coro opened its beak and let loose a stream of bubbles. Normally, of course, bubbles wouldn't do nuts to even the weakest Pokemon- but bubbles fired off by a water Pokemon in such huge quantities didn't serve to damage, they served another purpose. The Bidoof cringed as dozens of bubbles burst all around it, disorienting it and leaving it vulnerable to the inevitable follow-up attack, for which Coro executed a perfectly timed Peck.

The Bidoof was sent flying by the impact- the penguin had collided beak-first with its chin- and landed hard on its back. However, Coro had failed to take into consideration that the attack had knocked the mouse further away from them, allowing it a good head start to make its escape, which it immediately made use of. Its four legs windmilling comically, it panted hard as it ran- it was quite evidently out of shape.

Damion pointed at the sea, and Coro immediately understood. Coro leapt into the water, swimming so fast it caught up with Bidoof in no time. Bidoof looked to the side as it ran along the shoreline, and upon seeing the little penguin easily keeping pace with it, squeaked in shock and ran off towards the relative safety of the bushes. Coro burst out of the water and tackled Bidoof to the ground. Despite its small size, the water type was surprisingly strong.

All of a sudden, Bidoof began to glow white. There was a huge burst of white light and a bang, followed by a force blast strong enough to knock Damion off his feet and onto his back. His head collided painfully with a rock on the ground, causing him to see stars and black out for a moment. He groaned in pain- his head was throbbing painfully as he pulled himself up into a sitting position. He surveyed the scene- there was a giant crater in the sand, easily five feet across. Bidoof was lying on its back in the grass, about ten feet away from the blast area. Coro was half-submerged in the water, and was already getting up, shaking its head madly.

"What the hell happened?" Damion asked, waiting for his vision to clear.

An all-too familiar voice came from behind him. "Superpower," Lucas answered his question. "An extremely powerful attack which exhausts the user, leaving it tired and unable to attack or defend itself properly."

"How did such a low-level Pokemon learn such a powerful attack?" Damion groaned. The Bidoof seemed to have knocked itself out- it was on its back and immobile.

Lucas kept silent, this was always an indication that he didn't know the answer to the question, but his pride wouldn't let him admit it. "Well, yeah," Damion grinned. "Now I've just gotta catch it!" he leapt to his feet and ran towards the unconscious round mouse. Coro poked it twice. There was no response, it had clearly, somehow, managed to defeat itself.

Damion took out his empty Pokeball and tapped it once on the Bidoof's belly. The ball opened up and sucked the round mouse in. The ball vibrated in his palm once, twice, three times, then was still.

Damion leapt happily into the air. "Yes! I caught a Bidoof!"

Coro lowered its head and, almost comically, covered its face with both wings. Lucas sighed and inched away from the blonde-haired boy. "I don't know you. I have never met you before in my life. You are just a ridiculous poser I happened to chance upon on the beach. I do not know you." Damion looked around; several people were staring.

"Urm. Nothing?" He gave a sheepish grin to the onlookers, half of whom still seemed to think he was mad.

"Hi, what's going on?" Dawn walked down to the two boys from the path leading towards Professor Rowan's laboratory.

"Nothing," Lucas said. "Just a stranger, who thinks it is a perfectly normal and acceptable facet of human behaviour to suddenly leap up and down in public screaming with joy at some insignificant fact." He looked away from Damion to show his contempt for his companion's theatrics.

Dawn looked to Damion, puzzled. "I caught a Bidoof," Damion shrugged.

Dawn's face brightened up. "Oh, really? That's great!" she smiled. "Anyway," she added, "we should get going. The professor said to head to Jubilife first- that's just north of here- and he'd give us further instructions when we're there."

"What a weird guy," Lucas protested. "Why can't he just tell us what the hell he wants us to do? Why wait until we're there?"

Dawn shrugged, Damion looked excited. "Let's go!" he dashed off towards the route out of town, but was stopped when Lucas grabbed his collar. "What?"

"Stop a minute, you buffoon," Lucas snapped. "Can you hear something?"

Damion strained his ears. The patter of footsteps, the quiet crashing of waves onto the shore...

"Hooting?" Dawn asked, puzzled. Lucas looked around. A small brown owl flapped its way from a nearby tree, alighting on Lucas's shoulder.

"Hoothoot?" Lucas was quite surprised. He had good reason to be- this Hoothoot was wearing a bandage around its midriff, and had numerous other cuts and scratches on its body that had been treated with medical ointment.

"Lucas!" Dawn gasped. "This is the same Hoothoot that you rescued yesterday!" Lucas's eyes widened. The Hoothoot hooted again softly, rubbing itself against Lucas's cheek. "Oh man," Dawn started giggling. "It likes you!"

"Right," Lucas snarled, looking irritated. He waved the Hoothoot off, then turned and strode purposefully towards the route out of Sandgem. Hoothoot, however, had other plans. It anxiously flapped after the boy, landing on his shoulder again, swaying slightly on its foot.

"Looks like you got yourself another Pokemon!" Damion grinned happily. "Now we both have two Pokemon!"

"As if one wasn't enough..." Lucas slapped his forehead.

* * *

And so their journey -officially- begins! Hahaha. I had to cut the chapter here to avoid awkwardness (i.e. cutting in the middle of the route). And yes I know this one is short. I promised to make future chapters longer, just this one wasn't one where it was possible to lengthen without sacrificing quality (in my humble opinion). On a side note, since I don't have a beta reader, is there anyone who wants to take up this challenge? (It's a challenge 'cos I work better when I bounce ideas off people- thus any beta will probably get, for lack of better words, SPAMMED with nonsense :D) 

Any and all reviews/criticisms are appreciated:)


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